LAPSITS FOR EARLY LITERACY :To instill a love of books in at-risk newborns through three year olds and to encourage nurturing early language practices by their parents and caregivers: Programs

The Need for Early Literacy

THE VERY EARLY LITERACY NEED: STATISTICS THAT BEG FOR REFORMS

photo of boy with book Of Greenville’s children, 26% are assessed “not ready”
in reading for first grade (35% African American & Others)—SC KidsCount 2005

Synopsis: For too many Greenville children, the achievement gap begins at-risk from birth. Those who don’t receive
pre-literacy intervention between infancy and entering
school suffer reading struggles. Failure often can follow.

FACT: Mother’s educational level is the #1 correlate to the child’s high school graduation.

1098 babies are born to mothers not completing high school
60.1% of births to Hispanics are to mothers not completing high school
15% of 25—34 year-olds (many parents) have not completed either high school or a GED
25% of adults (many parents) are functionally illiterate
Hispanics immigrating to the U.S. aged 12 or older function at NAALS Level 1, the lowest literacy proficiency level

FACT: Lower economic status can often predict lower educational outcomes.

600 babies are born to mothers younger than 20; 81.7% of these are single mothers
3296 babies under age 1 are enrolled in Medicaid

	White	African American	Hispanic	Other	Total
Children Under 1	1,543	957	131	665	3,296

An estimated 3550+ women receive WIC services
16% children live in poverty

FACT: A 48 month old child’s vocabulary size is primarily established within the family and predicts his 1st and 11th grade reading scores.

Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children describes a decades-long research study that reveals the powerful impact a 3 year old child’s environment can play in his or her vocabulary development.

Children of parents from working-class families have half as many language experiences as children of professional parents. Children of parents on welfare had one third the language experiences as children of professional parents.

In a 5,200-hour year, these differences translate to 11.2 million words for a child of professional parents, 6.5 million words for a child of working-class parents, and only 3.2 million words for children of parents on welfare. Not only did children of parents on welfare have smaller vocabularies than children of both working class and professional parents, but also their vocabulary growth was slower, indicating an ever-widening gap between the groups. (Betty Hart and Todd Risley, 1995).

FACT: Greenville children not prepared in reading readiness face later risks

27% of 1st graders do not consistently demonstrate readiness (65% African American & Others)
34% of 1st graders are assessed “ not ready” in communication for first grade (43% African American & Others)
15% children are placed in Special Education classes (20% due to language delays); 10,500 children are Special Education students
19% of children are older than correct age for grade level by grade 3
22% of fourth graders perform below basic level on the PACT Reading Test

FACT: Too many Greenville students have NOT met standards over time.

	1980 CSAB 1st Grade Entry Readiness	1990 CSAB 1st Grade Entry Readiness	2004 SCRA ELA 5K Year	2005 PACT ELA Grade 3	2005 PACT ELA Grade 5	8th-12th Grade Dropouts
Total	29.6	23.1	27.0	10.9	21.9	25.1
WM	25.2	18.7	26.5	8.3	18.1	27.1
WF	19.7	14.9	16.6	4.1	11.0	19.5
AA&OM	49.9	40.8	40.3	28.2	45.1	36.8
AA&OF	42.3	31.4	30.3	12.0	29.7	21.0

CSAB assessed the readiness of entering 1st graders from 1979 to 2001.
SCRA has assessed readiness of kindergarteners from 2000 to present for the areas of English/Language Arts, Mathematics, and Personal and Social Development. The data above is the percentage "less than consistently demonstrating" readiness.
PACT has assessed performance toward state academic standards since 1999 for English/Language Arts and Math; and recently for Science and Social Studies. Only ELA is shown above.
Dropout data showing the number of 12th graders in 2001-2003 divided by 8th graders four years earlier is the only proxy available for graduation by race and gender. This dropout rate is lower than the non-completion rate or the non-graduation rate. Copyright © 2006 SC KidsCount

FACT: Greenville is a microcosm of a national crisis. According the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, “early literacy has become a national crisis”--

1 of 5 school age children suffer from reading failures
73% of 2nd grade poor readers had phonemic awareness or spoken language problems in kindergarten
A child who is not fluent reader by 4th grade is likely to struggle with reading into adulthood. In low income urban schools 70% of 4th grade children read below basic level.
75% of school dropouts and 50% of adolescents and young adults have reading problems Facts on Early Literacy, www.asha.org (11/16/06)

Data not otherwise cited above is taken from: 2003-2005 Greenville County KidsCount, Greenville Literacy, Greenville County Schools, March of Dimes, WIC, and National Adult Literacy Survey.